Representatives of the Albanian opposition parties in Macedonia met with their political mentor, Kosovan Prime Minister Albin Kurti. Today’s meeting in Pristina was attended by Arben Taravari, leader of the Alliance of Albanians which is formally still part of the DUI – SDSM coalition, but could run independently in the coming elections, or join the opposition European Alliance for Change, which includes the BESA, Alternative and Democratic Movement parties.

DUI has exerted strong pressure on the Albanian opposition parties not to challenge it, especially in the presidential elections, and is trying to prevent them from joining VMRO-DPMNE in a post election coalition that would exclude DUI. Kurti was in Skopje for the recent Open Balkan meeting, along with his rival, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who was crucial in creating the SDSM – DUI coalition in 2017. But this time around, the message from the meeting in Pristina wa sthat “a big change is coming”.